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 a Child’s Development
Ages 9-12 Bianca Schulze | November 8, 2010 | 19 Comments

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By Lori Calabrese, The Children’s Book Review
Audiobooks Published: November 6, 2010

Author We all want what’s best for our kids

Interviews and like the Army commercial, we
want them to be all they can be. But
Author
parents can often succumb to the
Showcase
pressures of society and other
Award parents to compete. That’s why
Winners some parents buy everything
imaginable to get their baby to read,
Bedtime
they enroll their children in the most
Books
expensive preschools, and even skip
Best Kids picture books and encourage their
Stories children to move on to more text-
heavy chapter books as a means to advance their skills for
Best Sellers rigorous standardized testing.

Bilingual It’s not a new issue, but it was recently brought back to the
Books
forefront by the NY Times Article, “Picture Books No Longer a
Board Books Staple for Children.” The article sadly reports that “The picture
book, a mainstay of children’s literature with its lavish
Book Lists illustrations, cheerful colors and large print wrapped in a glossy
jacket, has been fading.” Although the article reports that staples
Books by Age
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 Books by Age
from Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss still sell, publishers have
Books for Boys scaled back the number of titles. Citing the economic downturn
as a major factor, the article points out that many in the industry
Books for Girls see an additional reason—parents.

Books into
But while these parents are pushing their kids to be on top of the
Movies
game, they don’t realize that the intensive coaching can be
Brain Twisters counterproductive and they’re missing out on an important genre,
critical in the role of a child’s development—picture books.
Chapter Books

Citizen Review So why are picture books important?

Cultural 10. Chapter books are not necessarily more complex than picture
Wisdom books and in fact, their vocabulary and sentence structure can be
considered simplistic when compared with older level picture Popular Recent Comments
Current Affairs books. Many picture books are written at a higher reading level,
Early Readers use amazingly complex vocabularies and offer interesting plots.
Where to Find Free eBooks for
eBooks & 9. The illustrations of a picture book help children understand Children Online
Apps what they are reading and allow young readers to analyze the 10 Websites for discovering
story. When children are having difficulty, the illustrations can help free ebook downloads.
Environment &
them figure out the meaning of what they are reading. The
Ecology
illustrations are also a powerful way to help English learners 20 Sites to Improve Your Child’s
Events comprehend the story. Literacy
There are a number of
Fairy Tales 8. Children love art. Why do you think they spend so much time
organizations and sites that
coloring, drawing and doing crafts? Whatever the reason children
Fantasy: provide online activities, teaching tips, and...
are drawn towards a book, it’s a means to get them to read.
Supernatural
Fiction 7. Language: Picture books allow children to practice the sounds How Picture Books Play a Role
of language and as parents it’s our responsibility to introduce in a Child’s Development
Featured
new and interesting words at every opportunity. The rhythm and While these parents are
Content
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 Content
rhyme in many picture books make for great read-alouds and pushing their kids to be on top
Featured children learn words more easily when they hear them spoken of the game, they...
Videos often.
Next »
Film 6. Repetition: The repetition in many picture books allows a child
to participate in the story. Young readers get excited when they
Food and
can anticipate a forthcoming line and children learn skills like Sponsors
Drink
phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension and fluency.
Games
5. Picture books are multi-sensory, which aids a child’s growing
General mind and stimulates their imagination. Not only do the children
hear the story, they see the illustrations, and smell and touch the
Gift Books
pages.
Giveaways
4. Picture books can be a useful tool for teaching the concept of
Graphic cause and effect. Before reading a picture book to your children,
Novels tell them to listen for key words such as because, so, if, then, as a
result of, etc. These types of words can usually be found in a story
Health
that has a cause and effect relationship. Learn more in this article
Humor at the Writing for Children Center:
http://writingforchildrencenter.com
Illustrator
Interviews 3. Picture books help develop story sense. Children learn the
beginning, middle and end of a story and can often relate to the
Interactive
age-appropriate issues and conflicts presented in a picture book.
Interviews
2. Picture books allow an entirely different, more interactive
Music communication between parent and child. Picture books allow
parents to spend time talking with their children about the story,
Mysteries
pictures and words. This interaction builds reading
Mythology comprehension. Picture books allow you to talk about what you
see on each page, so be sure to talk about what happened in the
Parenting
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 Parenting
story, ask about the characters, how they are feeling, and events
Books
that took place.
Picture Books
1. Picture books are fun and the key is to always make the
Poetry & reading experience fun and a time to look forward to. Reading
Rhyme should never be perceived as a chore. If you make reading a
chore early on in a child’s development, they might grow to resent
Quest for
reading. Children who don’t naturally progress from picture books
Literacy
to chapter books may translate reading into working – more
Reluctant specifically, working that isn’t much fun.
Readers
It’s unfortunate that parents are pushing their kids past picture
Reviews by books, just as some turn up their noses at graphic novels and
Children magazines. It’s important to encourage your kids to get their
hands on everything they can, including picture books, comics,
Science and even kid-friendly websites. It doesn’t matter what they read as
Seasonal: long as they read and children who learn to love books will be
Holiday Books children who grow up to be good readers.

Social Graces Need help finding good picture books?

Sports
Check out this kid-tested list of fabulous picture books to read
Teens: Young aloud, selected by Bank Street College of Education’s School for
Tweets about "Poetry Books for Kids"
Adults Children.

Travel Check out Amazon.com’s Top 10 Children’s Picture Books of

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2010: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?
Writing
ie=UTF8&plgroup=1&docId=1000628261

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 Writing
ie=UTF8&plgroup=1&docId=1000628261
Resources
Check out the 2010 Fiction Picture Book Nominations for The
Cybils: http://www.cybils.com/2010-nominations-fiction-picture-
Book Lists
books.html
The
Teachers Pick the Top 50 Kids Books Ever at Scholastic:
Books
With No http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7817
Limits:
Exploring 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know:
Collaborative http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61
Activity
Storytelling
Books:
“…individual About the author: Lori Calabrese is an award-winning children’s
Drawing
readers can author. Her first picture book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire
Tips and
make the Third Grade, was awarded DFP’s Best Children’s Book Award.
experience more
Techniques She writes for various children’s magazines, is the National
Manga Five
child-centered
for the by
Family Children’s Books Examiner at Examiner.com and enjoys sharing
engaging Kawaii,
Beginner kids in
Favorites her passion for children’s books at festivals, schools and events.
a dialogue.”
My Monster
with Anna Visit her website to learn more, www.loricalabrese.com. The Children's…
Bubblewriter
Kang and
Book and

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 Best
Selling
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September
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About the Contributor (Contributor

who like sports – Profile)

especially
basketball – and The Children’s Book Review, named one of the
coming of age ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Great Web
stories. Sites for Kids, is powered by Bianca Schulze. Bianca is a

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 freelance writer, bookseller, aspiring author, and mother to two
daughters. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working
with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of
books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, her
goal is to grow readers by showcasing useful and inspiring
books!

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Sites That Link to this Post

1. Why Picture Books Still Matter | In the Stax: Everyone Loves a
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3. How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child’s Development |
David Maybury | Blog | November 15, 2010
4. The Importance of Picture Books « Momsense in NJ's Blog |
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5. My Toy Story-Books, Reviews, Toys, iPad, iPhone and
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10. Why Picture Books Are Important – Inkygirl: Guide For Kidlit/YA
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11. Week 2 task | nathanbarnettgdes3004 | May 13, 2015

Art Miramontes says:

January 7, 2011 at 11:42 am

There is nothing more important than a child’s

development. I completely agree that picture books
help with that process. My son help me write one!
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 reply

Jeffrey Maciejewski says:

January 14, 2011 at 8:20 am

This is a wonderful post, Bianca. Lori offers some

very useful ways to understand the importance of
picture books in child development.

As a new children’s book author and illustrator I sure appreciate

her views!

reply

Bianca Schulze says:

January 14, 2011 at 10:20 am

I’m glad you found Lori’s great article

informative!

reply

Beth Reinke says:

April 10, 2011 at 4:04 pm

Terrific article by Lori. Thanks for sharing it! :o)

reply
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 Bianca Schulze says:
April 10, 2011 at 5:47 pm

You’re welcome! Lori did write a great article

and we were very happy to share it with
everyone.

reply

Vivian Kirkfield says:

September 26, 2011 at 1:21 pm

I read this article last year…but it’s one that should

be shared over and over again! Lori gives us a
wonderful list of why reading picture books to young children is so
important…picture books are a window on the world for young
children…they step out from inside the covers and succeed in life.

reply

Bianca says:
September 26, 2011 at 2:39 pm

Well, said!

reply

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 Best Picture Books says:
November 16, 2011 at 2:53 am

Wonderful post. Teachers have a big role to play as

well. Group reading makes book even more
enjoyable.

reply

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